Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News
Joe Barrington relaxes in his Throckmorton home April 27. On the table before him is the model of one of the pieces he and another artist have been commissioned to create for Texas Tech University, Barrington said it will be his biggest project to date.

Abilene Reporter-News

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News
For comparison, the buffalo skull loaned by Tom Perini sits atop the steel replica of it being made by Joe Barrington in his Throckmorton studio April 27.

Abilene Reporter-News

Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News
Sculptor Joe Barrington cuts a piece of steel April 27 in his Throckmorton studio for use in an oversized buffalo skull sculpture he has been commissioned to create for Frontier Texas!

Abilene Reporter-News

THROCKMORTON — No bull this time, it's all buffalo.

Filling almost a quarter of the floor space in his studio, Joe Barrington has been creating a larger-than-life replica of a buffalo skull for Frontier Texas! in Abilene.

"It's probably going to weigh 4,000 pounds," he said. "Yeah, two tons of buffalo skull with the horns."

Barrington is well known for his oversized steel animals. In addition to his 22-foot tall Bridle Bit Bull west of Throckmorton on U.S. 380, Barrington has created several giant animal skulls including the Hereford skull on South 1st Street in Abilene.

Made from the steel of recycled oil field tanks, Barrington said this one looked to be living up to his previous work.

"Of course, this sculpture got a little bit bigger I think than they even asked for," he said. "I think they wanted it to be 12 to 15 feet (long) and the skull is 15 feet without the horns."

Barrington started on the sculpture April 1 and said he expects it to be done in time for the Children's Art and Literacy Festival June 14.

Frontier Texas! Executive Director Jeff Salmon said the buffalo skull will be installed on the eastern side of the museum's parade ground. The sculpture will be set into a slight hill so as to give the appearance of being partially buried. B.J. and Lale Estes' T&T Family Foundation donated the money for the sculpture.

"One of the things (we wanted) was to add an iconic element on our parade grounds," Salmon said. "We have already two iconic elements in the non-exhibit areas which are sculptures."

The bronze buffalo statue on the west side of the building and the cattle stampede inside the lobby have been there since Frontier Texas! opened in April 2003.

H.C. Zachry coordinated the commissioning of the artwork. He said the model for the sculpture is the real skull of a 12-year-old buffalo bull on loan from restaurateur Tom Perini.

Zachry said there were historical reasons for using that animal.

"I guess because of the site of Frontier Texas! started out as a buffalo bone yard," he said.

When the railroad came through in 1881, the first use of that area was as a stopping point for loading buffalo bones. Abilenians along with farmers and ranchers from around the area would bring wagonloads of buffalo bones to be transported to markets and factories in Chicago and points east. There they were turned into fertilizer, bone china, buttons and other items.

"There was a huge depression in the country in the late 1870s," Zachry said. "Many people managed to keep their homes and farms by gathering and selling buffalo bones because they were so thick."

He laughed when describing a story he thought was probably a myth but still noteworthy.

"They say at that time you could walk from Abilene to Buffalo Gap on buffalo bones without ever touching the ground," he chuckled. "I think (the story) is probably indicative of just how plentiful the buffalo bones were in this area as a result of the buffalo slaughter."

Zachry said one criteria for the piece was crucial — children should be able to climb on it. He said the parade ground is used by some families as a sort of "decompression chamber" for people traveling with children. Giving those children something to climb around on enhances that use.

Barrington gestured at the open area where the nose would be on a real skull.

"We're going to have him so kids can actually climb through here, then crawl through the eyes," he said with a smile.

Barrington added that while he doesn't usually create his sculptures with climbing in mind, he does smooth out any rough edges and burrs as a standard precaution.

"We do try to make them smooth enough so if they climb around on them they don't tear their hand, because most of them go in a public setting of some sort," he said.

This sculpture will go further in that regard than his others with rolled pipe covering many of the areas where a child might otherwise encounter a sharper edge.

"This buffalo skull will be as kid-friendly as a giant buffalo skull can be," Zachry chuckled. "That will probably depend on the kid, to some degree."